Bio:Office boy at the Daily Star, then Daily Planet. Thought of Superman as his best friend, but Superman, though he liked and respected Jimmy, probably didn't reflect the feelings quite so strongly. He is, from Superman's perspective, what the title of the Earth-1 Jimmy Olsen's book says he is: "Superman's Pal".

Notes:It is commonly claimed that Jimmy Olsen is not a Siegel and Shuster creation, but, like Kryptonite, a co-option of an element from the radio show. And there's some truth to this, but it's not quite so cut and dried.

In fact, an unnamed office boy is seen in Action Comics #6 (June 1938), prior to the advent of the radio show, working for The Daily Star. This figure has most of the attributes we associate with Jimmy Olsen, and can easily be considered Olsen. This figure is pictured at right. These two panels are the entirety of his appearance in his first story.

The radio show, in April of 1940, gave the office boy his name, but he had continued occasionally appearing, or at least being referenced, in Superman stories from his debut in the 1938 issue.

In Superman #13 (November, 1941), the office boy is now called "Jimmy the office boy". Finally, in Superman #15, Siegel uses the full radio show name, "Jimmy Olsen", and the character has been going strong ever since.

So, who created Jimmy Olsen? If you believe that a name makes all the difference in the world, you'd have to go with the radio show. If you believe the concept is the important thing, give the nod to Siegel and Shuster.

Still, the field below asks for a first appearance, so in this database, we're going with Action Comics (1938) #6 until some better evidence comes along.